Lawyer Submits Appeal for Qingdao Woman Sentenced to Six Months in Prison

December 07, 2017 | By a Minghui correspondent in Shandong Province, China

(Minghui.org) A 68-year-old woman in the Huangdao District of Qingdao City was recently sentenced to six months in prison for distributing Falun Gong materials. She is appealing the verdict. Her lawyer has already submitted the appeal to judge Huang Huifang.

Arrested and Detained

Ms. Xu Shimei was distributing information about Falun Gong at the Dacunzhen market on March 29, 2016, when Ding Shijiang, the deputy director of the Dacunzhen general office, saw her. Ding pretended to want a flyer and asked her where she had given them out before. He then called the police.

Officers from the Dacun Police Station arrived and arrested her. Her daughter went to the police station but was not allowed to visit her.

The head of the police station and two other officials told Ms. Xu's family to hand over 1,000 yuan for her medical exam before taking her to the hospital on March 30. After being examined, Ms. Xu was admitted to the Mopudong Detention Center.

Ms. Xu was released on bail on April 13, 2016.

Deceived by the Procuratorate

The police station submitted Ms. Xu's case to the Huangdao District Procuratorate in June 2017.

Ms. Xu hired a lawyer to defend her. After studying her case, he determined that her possession of Falun Gong materials did not constitute a crime.

In mid-June, Ms. Xu was told to go to the Procuratorate to cancel her release on bail. When she and her husband arrived, the officials refused to let him get near the document or allow Ms. Xu to read it. They read out the part that said the police had used the fliers they'd confiscated as evidence.

Because Ms. Xu is illiterate, they helped her to sign the document and then asked her for her thumbprints. Unbeknownst to Ms. Xu, she had already been indicted, and had actually signed the indictment. She learned of this later when she was told to collect the indictment on July 6.

Judge: “There's No Way”

The prosecutor and the police station collaborated to submit Ms. Xu's case to the court. When her lawyer said that possessing informational materials does not constitute a crime, the judge responded, “There's no way. The Procuratorate has already processed the case.”

During her trial on the morning of October 19, she reiterated that it was not wrong to practice Falun Gong and follow the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. Her lawyer pled not-guilty on her behalf.

The prosecutor presented the confiscated materials as evidence.

The trial lasted nearly two hours, and the judge called for an adjournment without announcing a verdict.

Ms. Xu was sentenced to a six-month prison sentence on November 7 and fined 2,000 yuan. She expressed her desire to appeal the verdict.

Ms. Xu was taken to a hospital to be examined that afternoon and then taken to the Mopudong Detention Center.

Her lawyer went to the detention center to visit her, and submitted her appeal to the judge.